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This series of research briefs explores issues of family homelessness that are especially relevant to HHS, to state and local decision makers, and for programs. The Child Separation among Families Experiencing Homelessness brief explores child separations among families experiencing homelessness. It builds upon the fourth brief in this series, “Child and Partner Transitions among Families Experiencing Homelessness,” which looked at family separations and reunifications in the 20 months after being in emergency shelter and the association between family separation and recent housing instability following an initial shelter stay. This new brief provides a more detailed examination of these families and their children before and after the initial shelter stay, revealing more extensive and persistent levels of child separation. It gives detailed characteristics of separated children and examines whether future child separation after a shelter stay is related to either housing instability of previous separations. (Author abstract)

This series of research briefs explores issues of family homelessness that are especially relevant to HHS, to state and local decision makers, and for programs. The Child Separation among Families Experiencing Homelessness brief explores child separations among families experiencing homelessness. It builds upon the fourth brief in this series, “Child and Partner Transitions among Families Experiencing Homelessness,” which looked at family separations and reunifications in the 20 months after being in emergency shelter and the association between family separation and recent housing instability following an initial shelter stay. This new brief provides a more detailed examination of these families and their children before and after the initial shelter stay, revealing more extensive and persistent levels of child separation. It gives detailed characteristics of separated children and examines whether future child separation after a shelter stay is related to either housing instability of previous separations. (Author abstract)

This brief summarizes key characteristics of programs funded through the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) that reported at least half of the youth they served were in foster care. PREP, which aims to reduce teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and associated risk behaviors, is administered by the Family and Youth Services Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Funding is awarded to states and territories through formula grants (State PREP), and through a competitive process to tribes and tribal entities (Tribal PREP) and to direct service providers in states and territories that did not take State PREP funding (Competitive PREP).

Purpose

This brief is one in a series that will inform stakeholders and the public about the PREP program.

Key Findings and Highlights

Forty-six programs across 16 states reported primarily serving youth in foster care. These programs served about...

Introduction

This brief summarizes key characteristics of programs funded through the Personal Responsibility Education Program (PREP) that reported at least half of the youth they served were in foster care. PREP, which aims to reduce teen pregnancies, sexually transmitted infections, and associated risk behaviors, is administered by the Family and Youth Services Bureau within the Administration for Children and Families (ACF) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Funding is awarded to states and territories through formula grants (State PREP), and through a competitive process to tribes and tribal entities (Tribal PREP) and to direct service providers in states and territories that did not take State PREP funding (Competitive PREP).

Purpose

This brief is one in a series that will inform stakeholders and the public about the PREP program.

Key Findings and Highlights

Forty-six programs across 16 states reported primarily serving youth in foster care. These programs served about 5,000 youth each year, largely through foster care settings. Most youth in these programs reported being White or Black or African American, and most were ages 15 to 18. About two-thirds of youth reported being sexually active before entering the program. After PREP, more than one-third of the youth in these programs reported they were less likely to have sex in the next six months, and a large majority reported they were more likely to use condoms and birth control if they have sex.

Methods

PREP grantees submit performance measures data to ACF each year. These findings are based on performance measures data submitted by State PREP, Tribal PREP, and Competitive PREP grantees for the 2014–2015 reporting period. (Author introduction)

The Homeless Families Research Briefs project, conducted by Abt Associates, is producing a series of research briefs on issues related to the well-being and economic self-sufficiency of families and children experiencing homelessness. Using data collected from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Family Options Study, these briefs build on the data and analysis already being conducted for HUD to answer additional questions of interest to HHS.

This brief builds on previous research by describing the behavioral health problems reported by 2,020 parents—including some fathers—at the outset of a shelter stay with their children and the association of these problems with parents’ prior experiences. For the purposes of this brief, behavioral health includes psychological distress, alcohol dependence, drug abuse, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).The brief then looks at changes in the parents’ behavioral health problems over the next 37 months and how those changes were related to housing stability following the episode of homelessness. (...

The Homeless Families Research Briefs project, conducted by Abt Associates, is producing a series of research briefs on issues related to the well-being and economic self-sufficiency of families and children experiencing homelessness. Using data collected from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Family Options Study, these briefs build on the data and analysis already being conducted for HUD to answer additional questions of interest to HHS.

This brief builds on previous research by describing the behavioral health problems reported by 2,020 parents—including some fathers—at the outset of a shelter stay with their children and the association of these problems with parents’ prior experiences. For the purposes of this brief, behavioral health includes psychological distress, alcohol dependence, drug abuse, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).The brief then looks at changes in the parents’ behavioral health problems over the next 37 months and how those changes were related to housing stability following the episode of homelessness. (Edited author introduction)

These PowerPoints are from the 2018 Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS). The Homeless Families Research Briefs project uses data from a large randomized controlled trial, the Family Options Study, to answer questions that are of interest to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This panel included presentations on three aspects of homeless families that may help HHS ensure that the agency’s programs and policies are used to assist families that have experienced homelessness in becoming self-sufficient. Amanda Benton (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) moderated this session. Various methodologies were used across the presentations. (Author introduction)

These PowerPoints are from the 2018 Research and Evaluation Conference on Self-Sufficiency (RECS). The Homeless Families Research Briefs project uses data from a large randomized controlled trial, the Family Options Study, to answer questions that are of interest to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This panel included presentations on three aspects of homeless families that may help HHS ensure that the agency’s programs and policies are used to assist families that have experienced homelessness in becoming self-sufficient. Amanda Benton (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) moderated this session. Various methodologies were used across the presentations. (Author introduction)

To help individuals successfully reenter society after time in jail, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) awarded $10 million in grants to 20 local workforce development boards (LWDBs) in June 2015 for the Linking to Employment Activities PreRelease (LEAP) initiative. Central to the LEAP initiative was creating jail-based American Job Centers (AJCs) with direct linkages to community-based AJCs. A complex array of factors including jail and local community characteristics influenced the development and operations of jail-based AJCs as well as the experiences and outcomes of participants (Figure ES.1). The overarching goals were to increase participants’ work readiness at the time of release, increase employment after release, and reduce recidivism; additional goals for the pilot initiative included demonstrating that corrections and workforce agencies could effectively collaborate to provide pre-release services, generate lessons learned around promising strategies and common challenges that could inform future efforts; and identify ways for grantees to sustain the jail-based AJCs...

To help individuals successfully reenter society after time in jail, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) awarded $10 million in grants to 20 local workforce development boards (LWDBs) in June 2015 for the Linking to Employment Activities PreRelease (LEAP) initiative. Central to the LEAP initiative was creating jail-based American Job Centers (AJCs) with direct linkages to community-based AJCs. A complex array of factors including jail and local community characteristics influenced the development and operations of jail-based AJCs as well as the experiences and outcomes of participants (Figure ES.1). The overarching goals were to increase participants’ work readiness at the time of release, increase employment after release, and reduce recidivism; additional goals for the pilot initiative included demonstrating that corrections and workforce agencies could effectively collaborate to provide pre-release services, generate lessons learned around promising strategies and common challenges that could inform future efforts; and identify ways for grantees to sustain the jail-based AJCs when the DOL-funded grant ended. The grants covered 9 months of planning and 15 months of service delivery, with many grantees receiving up to a one-year no-cost extension to finish spending down remaining grant resources. Grantees were geographically diverse, located in 13 states across 5 DOL regions, and involved a total of 22 county jails.

Workforce development, corrections, and other partners, as well as participants, identified many successes along with significant challenges and promising strategies to address them. The qualitative evidence collected through this implementation evaluation suggests that introducing new services, partnerships, and ways of thinking about reentry hold promise for lasting effects on the workforce and corrections systems in some sites. The experiences of the LEAP grantees highlight important lessons learned and some areas for continued refinement or potential replication in similar or different contexts. Although this implementation evaluation cannot make causal claims, the evidence suggests that it is possible to use jail-based AJCs to link participants to post-release services and that this may be a promising approach to support returning individuals in successful reentry. (Edited author executive summary)